Spike for rails



F. RADELET AND E. BONNET.

SPiKE FOR RAILS. APPLICATION FILED JUNE15. I920 Patented Dec. 5,1922;

ms nis sh Klee. 35,

til i SPIKE FOE RAILS.

Application filed June 15,

such an angle, instead of exerting on the spike or screw a pull directed longitudinally of its stem, the vibratlon of the rail exerts a lateral pressure on the head of the spike or screw and tends to swing same and force the stem against the inner wall of its seat, whereby its adherence to the sleeper is considerably increased. This action obtains whether the spike or screw is driven vertically or at an angle to the sleeper. the essential condition being that in use the rail engaging surface be at an angle of 45 or more to the horizontal.

The present invention contemplates improvements in the spikes according to our said application Ser. No. 35%68 and has for its object further to increase their resistance to an outward pull and to improve the conditions under which they Work, whatever he the position they must assume in order that their rail engaging surface shall be inclined to the required extent.

An important feature of our invention consists in giving to the rear face of the head of the spike (i. e. to the face remote from the rail engaging surface) such an inclination that said rear face rests on the sleeper when the spike is positioned in the same. The head of the spike thus bears on the surface of the sleeper and the area of its rear I face is added to the contact area between the stern and the sleeper. 1. e. to the Working area of the spike.

The eficiency of our improved spikes may also be increased by providing a set of teeth or projections on the front and rear faces of the stem at the points where the lateral motion imparted by the vibration of the rail tends to force the stern into the material of the sleeper.

The head of the spike may also be provided with a projection or hook adapted to engage the foot of the rail only after the 1920. Serial no. 388,225.

med, under the action of excessive vibrations or stresses. such an inclination that it. can no longer be pulled out its seat by a vertical pull on said hook.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example. various emhodiments of the invention:v Fig. l is an elevation of a spike according. tothe invention which is driven slantwise into the sleeper; y 1

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the spike anchored in the sleeper;

Fig.3 likewise shows the head tically drivenspike;

l is an elevation of thehead of a slightly modified spike;

Referring'to Fig. 1 the front or rail engaging surface 7 of the head of the spike m has such an inclination that it is adapted to form when in use. an angle of at least. 45 with the horizontal. The rear face a of the head ofthe spike is inclined in the opposite direction atsuch an angle that it is adapted to rest, when in use, on the surface of the sleeper 0. As shown in the drawing it is desirable that; when the spike has been driven longitudinally. the face a should be slightly inclined to the horizontal (Fig. 1) so that a heavy hammer blow on the front part of the head would secure the spike in position with the face a bearing against the sleeper (Fig. Henceforth the face 07.- will give rise to an additional resistance and will ccoperate, with the stern in opposing the lateral motion the rail tends to impart thereto.

As has been explained in our application Ser. llo. 3.541068 aforesaid this lateral motionis in the nature of a rotation and results from strains which at first tend to force into the material of the sleeper both the lower portion of the front face and the upper portion of the rear face of the stem of the spike. In order to increase the adherence of the stem to the WELllS Of its seat it is advantageous to provide the lower portion of the front face n and the upper portion of the rear face 9 with a set of teeth r which on the material of the sleeper and become anchored therein. In use the strains exercised by the rail only tend to increase the hold of the teeth on the sleeper. Preferably spike has as."

of a verthe teeth 7- do not extend over the entire length of the stem in order to avoid the formation of gaps where the stem tends to move away from the Walls of its seat.

The spike illustrated in Fig. 3 is similar to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but the inclination of the face a is such that said face will rest on the sleeper after the spike has been driven vertically therein.

In Fig. 4 is shown a. spike which differs from those described above by the provision of a projection or hook s at the upper end of the rail engaging surface This projection does not come into contact with the foot Z of the rail and it is adapted to engage the same only it, as the result 01" excessive strains, the spike should assume a strongly inclined position in the sleeper, in v-rhich event. the projection 8 would act as a safety device. On account of the considerable inclination of the stem the vertical strains ere ercised on said projection by the foot of the rail would only cause the front face of the stem to press against the material of the slee er.

aving now described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A railway spike comprising a stem, and a head having a straight rail-engaging surface at an angle of at least 135 to said stem and a flat. rearwardly extending surface adapted to bear against the sleeper.

2. A railway spike comprising a stem and a head having a straight rail engaging surface adapted to transmit the greater part of the vibration of the rail to the stem in a lateral direction and a flat rearwardly extending surface adapted to co-operate with the sleeper in opposing a lateral movement of the head.

3. Railway spikes comprising a stem, a set of teeth extending only on the lower portion of the front face of said stein, a set 0 teeth extending only on the upper portion of the rear face of said stem, and a head having an inclined rail engaging surface and a rearwardly extending surface adapted to. engage the sleeper. 7

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

H. WV. Pnucnnn L. PIERARD. 

